Thursday, June 29, 2017

Cardinal George Pell,
the highest-ranking Catholic official in Australia and the sitting
prefect of the Secretariat of the economy for the Vatican (the Church's
treasurer) has been charged with multiple sexual offenses by Australian
authorities.

"Cardinal
Pell is facing multiple charges and there are multiple complainants,"
said Shane Patton, the deputy commissioner of the Victoria Police
Department, during a press conference.

"For clarity, I want to be perfectly clear, the process and
procedures that are being followed in the charging of Cardinal Pell have
been the same that have been applied in a whole range of historical sex
offences whenever we investigate them," Patton added.

"Cardinal Pell, like any other defendant, has a
right to due process and so therefore, it is important that the process
is allowed to run its natural course."

Pell has consistently denied all charges. "I stand by everything I've
said at the royal commission [on child sexual abuse] and in other
places. We have to respect due process, wait until it's concluded and
obviously I'll continue to cooperate fully," he told reporters. Pell is
to appear at court on July 18.

Pell has been a cardinal since 2003 and was the archbishop of Sydney
and Melbourne from 2001 until 2014. In 2014, he was made the Vatican's
treasurer and has thus been living in Rome. Australian authorities have
commanded the 76-year-old official to return to stand trial, and Pell
said that he was willing to make the journey. Previously in 2014, he
declined to return to Australia to testify at a royal commission
on child sexual abuse in the church. Pell, citing ill health, instead
testified over videolink.

During his testimony, Pell told prosecutors
that he didn't believe it fair to blame the Catholic Church for the
actions of its officials. In a comment that drew much controversy, he
likened the Holy See to a trucking company: "If the truck driver picks
up some lady and then molests her, I don't think it's appropriate,
because it is contrary to the policy, for the ownership, the leadership
of that company to be held responsible."